JOB KILLER BILL RIGHTLY REJECTED

Our friend Allan Zaremberg from the CalChamber has penned an op/ed about the demise of SB 1021. This is an interesting read:

The Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee did the right thing by rejecting an unfair, discriminatory split roll bill that would have raised rents and costs for all businesses, especially small businesses.

SB 1021 (Wolk) sought to allow a school district to impose a parcel tax on property used for commercial purposes as opposed to residential properties. Similarly, the bill would have allowed a school district to impose a parcel tax solely on properties that exceed a certain square footage so as to only include commercial property and exclude residential property for higher tax rates.

SB 1021 sought to re-define the term “special taxes that apply uniformly” to mean special taxes that may be applied discriminatorily and unfairly.

The committee turned back an assault on California’s historic commitment to uniformity and fairness in property taxation.

Policy makers understood the flaws in this proposal and its potential to kill jobs. The increased costs faced by commercial property owners under SB 1021 would have been passed along to consumers or resulted in hiring reductions or cuts to benefits for workers in local communities.